At its Oct. 8 meeting, the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education honored the teacher of the year. Jesse Braun from Beverly Vista Middle School (BVMS) was presented with the award by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and students had the chance to honor him.
Jesse Braun is a teacher at BVMS who has reshaped the yearbook program and is responsible for a significant increase in course requests for the class. He also teaches Library Media and Home Hospital. Out of 80 districts and over 300,000 teachers in LA County, Braun was selected as one of 69 district teachers of the year. He was then selected as one of 16 LA County teachers of the year. “I’m definitely the first teacher-librarian to receive a Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year award,” he told the Courier. “And I felt like it was important, in this moment when school libraries outside of Beverly Hills are really struggling and are under threat, to represent what was possible with a school library in a community that supports it the way the Beverly Hills does.”
During the meeting, BVMS Principal Richard Waters spoke about what makes Braun so deserving of the award. “As a librarian, Jesse teaches classes to students of all grade levels on how to effectively check their sources for reports, manage school technology resources and communicate appropriately through email,” said Waters. Braun has implemented various systems within the library to increase accessibility and efficiency, such as the asset management system. “However, those who know Jesse well understand that his exceptional communication skills and his strong work ethic are the real reasons behind this success,” continued Waters.
Students Lior Pouravahim, Noah Paul and Geffen Pinchasi also attended the meeting to speak about Braun’s impact on their education. “Mr. Braun taught me the importance of a hook at the beginning of a story so that I could capture the interest of the reader,” said Pinchasi. He instilled in me the importance of a yearbook as a way to capture memories for all students. I get to look at this yearbook for many years to come and know that I was part of making it happen.”
Before the board presented Braun with its own award, Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy also said a few words. “Your ability to jump in and instructionally design and help pull a staff together is remarkable,” he said. “What you’ve done in such a short amount of time is to be recognized, and that is one of the many reasons why to be selected as teacher of the year in such a huge county is a huge honor, not only to you personally and professionally, but to our school district.”
